GUEST POST BY The CandyMan“. . .and so would Moses say: Let the law pierce the mountain! But Aaron would love peace and pursue it, making peace between man and his neighbor.”
This week’s Torah reading features an interesting argument. Following the death of Aaron’s two sons in a priestly disaster, Moses discovers that a community sin-offering has been wholly burnt, rather than partially eaten by the priests. Furious at this breach of protocol, he demands an explanation. Aaron, who silently accepted Moses' earlier criticisms (Num. 10:3), this time refuses to back down. The mourning priest replies,
הֵן הַיּוֹם הִקְרִיבוּ אֶת-חַטָּאתָם וְאֶת-עֹלָתָם לִפְנֵי יְהוָה, וַתִּקְרֶאנָה אֹתִי, כָּאֵלֶּה; וְאָכַלְתִּי חַטָּאת הַיּוֹם, הַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה
See, just today these have brought their sin-offering and burnt-offering before G-d, and such [misfortune] has befallen me; were I to eat a sin-offering today, would that be pleasing in the eyes of the Lord? (Lev. 10:19)
Note that Aaron's argument is not based on the letter of the law. That was decidedly on Moses' side. Instead, Aaron is arguing with logic. Having been so punished earlier, having suffered so terribly himself, how could he now eat the sin-offering for the community? Would that be right? Would that be pleasing in the eyes of the Lord? Aaron is asking, What would God want? It's not me reading this into the verse; it's explicit in the Bible. Moses realizes that Aaron is correct and lets him be, without consulting heaven (v. 20).Who is carrying on Aaron's legacy today? In the Biblical era, it was the priests, prophets, and Nazirites. In the Rabbinic era, it was the Pharisees, who took vows of abstention (Hebrew PRSH) to eat only within certain table fellowships. In the modern era, it is the Orthodox and Conservative Jews. All of these groups followed within the tradition of Aaron, attempting to make their lives "holy" and in that way come closer to the ineffable God. Intriguingly, both Rabbinic and Biblical sources associate this priestly way of life with peace.
Our greatest challenge as Jews is to make peace with the Arab peoples. There is a role here for the priests in both religions that I believe remains to be fully realized. Islam is the most important religion in the Arab world, and it has much in common with Judaism at the level of ritual. Why not use this common religious heritage as a basis for mutual respect and understanding? Two modern-day Aarons are leading the way:
1. Joe Regenstein is a Cornell prof who is working on a Halal/Kosher co-certification. How cool is that?
2. It is hard to imagine the grief and anger that Judea Perl must have felt when his son was killed by terrorists simply for being a Jew. But like the Biblical Aaron, Judea's response has been one of reason. Along with Professor Akbar S. Ahmed, he started the Daniel Perl Dialogue for Muslim-Jewish Understanding. If Judea Perl can find it within his heart to reach out to Arab world, surely you can find it within yours as well.
35 comments:
Maybe you should post this on a Muslim blog. Lets see what they say.
>Why not use this common religious heritage as a basis for mutual respect and understanding?
That would be nice. But I think there just has to be a total seperation between the two groups.
Even Sarah Imanu saw that ;)
So, Candy, have you gone bowling with the local Mosque yet?
Seriously, you preach a lot about reaching out to Muslims or Arabs - what have you done in that laudable goal?
As difficult as it is to implement this peace, because there is no peace partner, I must say that the Candyman's sentiments are in the right place.
I personally think you're mistaken in saying Orthodox Judaism and the Pharisees continued Aaron's legacy.
Those two philosophies are essentially the same (the former being derived from the latter)and they are both extremely law-bound. I would say they're continuing the legacy of Moshe, rather than Aaron.
As for who has the legacy of Aaron? I don't know. Perhaps MO, who shift things around like Aaron did, to reach a more logical conclusion? But certainly not the Pharisees or OJs
I think there just has to be a total seperation between the two groups.
Unrealistic.
have you gone bowling with the local Mosque yet?
The idea of Jewish/Arab bowling seems to have resonated with you. The ball is already rolling, as it were.
If you are interested in making it happen locally, please e-mail me.
As difficult as it is to implement this peace, because there is no peace partner...
Baby steps. Let's start by building bridges in this country.
Orthodox Judaism and the Pharisees continued Aaron's legacy.
Those two philosophies are essentially the same (the former being derived from the latter)and they are both extremely law-bound. I would say they're continuing the legacy of Moshe, rather than Aaron.
Pharisaic Judaism was a response to the destruction of the Priesthood/Temple. It is a way of making every Jewish layman a priest. Your dinner table becomes your altar, so to speak. Read Neusner on this.
Note that Pharisees took upon themselves specific vow stringencies (above and beyond what their notion of Biblical law) as a matter of habit. This is clear from both the Mishna and the Gospels. These are the table fellowships to which I refer in the post -- and the basis of the very term Pharisees. Note also that Pharisees were only one sect within the greater world of Rabbinic Judaism portrayed in the Talmud.
Orthodox Judaism did not arise for another millenium after the Talmud was sealed, and has a flavor quite different from both Pharisaic and Rabbinic Judaism.
"Baal Habos said...
As difficult as it is to implement this peace, because there is no peace partner, I must say that the Candyman's sentiments are in the right place."
It is too easy to tell people how to feel emotionally.
"Baby steps. Let's start by building bridges in this country."
You don't understand their culture so forget it. We can be all nicey nicey with many but it's not going to change the situation.
Candyman; you just have proven once again what michael savage,keeps saying,that leftis'm and liberalism,is nothing but a mental disease
go check yourself into a insane asylum,for the criminally insane
chaim
"Baal Habos said...
As difficult as it is to implement this peace, because there is no peace partner, I must say that the Candyman's sentiments are in the right place."
Baal if there is no peace partner it is because there is violence and hatred in the Arab world so how are the sentiments in the right place? Making excuses for Arabs but taking us to task when we are trying to make peace is not a good sentiment.
You don't understand their culture so forget it. We can be all nicey nicey with many but it's not going to change the situation.
Excuse me, but I have a several Arab friends including one "frum" Muslim woman from Turkey. She doesn't eat during the day all Ramadan. Having grown up Orthodox, I can relate to her pretty darn easily. And we are both very good friends with a gay woman from another culture.
We don't sit around arguing culture, religion, or politics. We are just friends, like you and your buddies at shul. And yeah, we talk religion sometimes, too.
if there is no peace partner it is because there is violence and hatred in the Arab world...
I am not seeing much of an effort towards peace on either side.
"The Candy Man said...
You don't understand their culture so forget it. We can be all nicey nicey with many but it's not going to change the situation.
Excuse me, but I have a several Arab friends including one "frum" Muslim woman from Turkey. She doesn't eat during the day all Ramadan. Having grown up Orthodox, I can relate to her pretty darn easily. And we are both very good friends with a gay woman from another culture.
We don't sit around arguing culture, religion, or politics. We are just friends, like you and your buddies at shul. And yeah, we talk religion sometimes, too."
Fine but that's not making peace between Israel and the Arabs.
"The Candy Man said...
if there is no peace partner it is because there is violence and hatred in the Arab world...
I am not seeing much of an effort towards peace on either side."
Israel offers concessions constantly and negotiates constantly and makes cesefires while getting shot at and you don't see much of an effort on Israel's side?
>I am not seeing much of an effort towards peace on either side.
I think we will give you some time to retract that statement lest it enter the record books as the silliest comment you have yet said.
CM,
"The idea of Jewish/Arab bowling seems to have resonated with you."
Only because I think it's a deeply silly idea. Having a small group of self-selected liberals on either side of a religious divide make a brief and artificial social confrontation accomplishes nothing except making the organizers feel good.
In any case, you didn't answer my question of what you have done yourself to 'reach out'.
"The Candy Man said...
You don't understand their culture so forget it. We can be all nicey nicey with many but it's not going to change the situation.
Excuse me, but I have a several Arab friends including one "frum" Muslim woman from Turkey."
Israel is friends with Turkey and its people are used to being friendly with the Jews. So that really is not what we need to work on.
"We don't sit around arguing culture, religion, or politics. We are just friends, like you and your buddies at shul. And yeah, we talk religion sometimes, too."
Me and my buddies in shul do feel free talk and disagree about culture, religion and politics. If you don't argue those with your buddies that's not going to advance any dialogue. You don't bowl or talk nicey nicey and solve all the worlds problems that way. That's not what causes all the problems. That's more helpful for IntraJewish dialogue. We get to know one another and it gets helpful as we learn about each other. The issues between the Jews and Arabs are mainly from Antisemitism being used by the Arabs. Interesting about how it seems you try to make me just be insular with the "buddies from shul." Well two of my buddies from shul are Black.
http://www.theparentscircle.com/default.asp
Check out that site, it is for bereaved Israeli & Palestinian parents who are working towards mutual understanding.
Israel offers concessions constantly and negotiates constantly and makes cesefires while getting shot at and you don't see much of an effort on Israel's side?
There's more to making peace than "conceding" a couple of yishuvs. It takes reaching out, building bridges culturally. Saying, "We need each other." Giving the other side respect.
A lot of it comes down to respect. The point of my post is, we have a lot of things in common, let's use those as a starting point.
(On the political side, Israel isn't offering statehood, and is crushing the Palestinian economy. So politically, more can be done as well. Of course, the Arab side also has a lot to do, including stopping the mortar attacks. The "concessions" on both sides have not impressed me. The endgame is obvious, a two state solution with E. Jeru as the Palestinian capital... same as Ehud Barak's offer. So why not just get it done already and sign a peace pact?)
The Parents' Circle
OSM, very interesting, I never knew about this. There are a lot of good programs in place making peace.
It's gonna happen!
“The Candy Man said...
>Israel offers concessions constantly and negotiates constantly and makes ceasefires while getting shot at and you don't see much of an effort on Israel's side?
There's more to making peace than "conceding" a couple of yishuvs. It takes reaching out, building bridges culturally. Saying, "We need each other." Giving the other side respect.”
No it means making a peace treaty whether or not you need the other side or can respect them. Israel you say was just conceding a couple of yishuvs? They are negotiating ready to concede so much in return for broken promises and being fired at and having Arab and Islamic Antisemitism and terrorism being encouraged.
“A lot of it comes down to respect. The point of my post is, we have a lot of things in common, let's use those as a starting point.”
Respect has to earned and we have been showing a lot of respect to those who don’t earn it. They are laughing at our gullibility.
“(On the political side, Israel isn't offering statehood, and is crushing the Palestinian economy.”
Ok come on Israel is offering statehood in exchange for peace. As for the Palestinian economy if they wouldn’t be violent Israel would be able to not hinder their movements and infrastucture. Who left them all those green houses in Gaza and who destroyed them and which government ordered it to be destroyed?
“ So politically, more can be done as well. Of course, the Arab side also has a lot to do, including stopping the mortar attacks. The "concessions" on both sides have not impressed me. The endgame is obvious, a two state solution with E. Jeru as the Palestinian capital... same as Ehud Barak's offer. So why not just get it done already and sign a peace pact?)”
Ehud Barak was in power Arafat rejected it and responded with war. You think Israel can simply sign a treaty? If it were that easy Israel would have done it. The Arab side rejected peace in favor of planning Israel’s destruction. No one forced Yassir Arafat to not sign on the dotted line. No one is preventing the Palestinians from being as rejectionist as Arafat but themselves because signing on the dotted line means responsibilty and being forced to recognize Israel. As for the Palestinan economy those bastards like Abbas are so supposed to be in charge but they use the money for their power and expect Israel to support them. Some independence. This is yet from Gaza. Independent Gaza. Certified independent by the UN. The Gazans insist they are under occupation and that Israel should support their economy after they destroyed the greenhouses.
When I was in college, I was friendly and worked in the college EMS with a shtark Bangladeshi with an upcoming arranged marriage, a religious Muslim from Egypt, a couple of women from 'Palestine' - one who was relatively secular and another who wore a headscarf, a couple of Asian Buddhists, an Italian Catholic woman, a Gospel-quoting Black Protestant, and all sorts of other kinds of people.
We got along well enough, even while I kept a cool policy of keeping religious and political discussions on the low down. Israel was often taboo, but even so there were some angry discussions about general politics, those famous Muhammed cartoons, and frankly an undercurrent of antisemitism and anti-Arabism persisted despite these people working together all the time.
I didn't fear harm to my person in school, but, frankly and sadly in a different time and place I could easily see myself and some of the people I worked with looking at each other through opposite sides of gun sights. There were fundamental differences that came to Israel and I knew that some of my collegues were prepared, ideologically, to use force against Israel and I knew that I'd be prepared to use force to stop them.
I don't see how bowling can solve this.
Candyman
You scare the daylighs out of me. Israel unilaterally left Gaza. LEFT IT. That does not impress you? Do you still trust this nation (keyword "nation") that it wants peace with Israel?" Yes, you have a lot of individuals, but I do not see these people wanting any peace
And if it comes down to what Barak gave, why did they not sign anything?
You scare the daylighs out of me. Israel unilaterally left Gaza.
Dude, they didn't leave Gaza out of a feeling of obligation to the Palestinians. They left Gaza to reduce attacks and casualties, the vast majority of which were taking place there.
And if it comes down to what Barak gave, why did they not sign anything?
I'll see if I can dig up an excellent interview with Prince Bandar from the 1999 New Yorker. It deals with this in detail. I've also heard Sharansky speak and say the same thing.
”The Candy Man said...
You scare the daylighs out of me. Israel unilaterally left Gaza.
Dude, they didn't leave Gaza out of a feeling of obligation to the Palestinians. They left Gaza to reduce attacks and casualties, the vast majority of which were taking place there.”
Israel doesn’t have to feel a sense of obligation to them. Are they to feel to us? Israel won the territory from Egypt which occupied it. It was Israel’s by right of conquest in a war yet of self defense. Israel left because it left.
“And if it comes down to what Barak gave, why did they not sign anything?
I'll see if I can dig up an excellent interview with Prince Bandar from the 1999 New Yorker. It deals with this in detail. I've also heard Sharansky speak and say the same thing.”
Yassir Arafat did not sign. It was his evilness whatever the excuse.
>Dude, they didn't leave Gaza out of a feeling of obligation to the Palestinians. They left Gaza to reduce attacks and casualties, the vast majority of which were taking place there.
First of all, who cares as to the reason. THEY LEFT. You get what you get. Thats reality. And instead of using this for their benefit, Hamas is elected and Israel is attacked. This happened with the Israel leaving Lebanon as well. I mean, how much more do you need, before you realize that they just don't want peace? What else is there? For you to say that Israel abandoning what for almost 40 years it has built as not being impressive is just unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. You even seem to compare hundreds of missles being aimed to murder people with Israel harming their economy. They have done this to themselves.
>I'll see if I can dig up an excellent interview with Prince Bandar from the 1999 New Yorker. It deals with this in detail. I've also heard Sharansky speak and say the same thing.
If its about not meeting the Palestinian requirements by cutting up parts of westbank, save it. There was no counter offer no nothing. Just an intifada.
You want Israel to ease up on the Palestinian economy. That would mean more terrorism. As Israel makes restrictions because the Palestinans have used terrorism. You would be responsible for the deaths of innocent men, women and children and that on both sides because by preventing Palestinans from engaing in violence lives are spared on both sides. Also what about the billions of dollars given to the Palestinians but used by their leadership instead?
@OP:
I think [interfaith bowling is] a deeply silly idea.
I guess this means you're out?
I want to clarify the idea behind the bowling. My thesis is that our political positions are not purely intellectual. They are intertwined with an emotional defense response that goes back a lot further than politics. We defend the people we love and admire.
Socializing with people from different backgrounds, especially in a fun situation, addresses this emotional side. This human side of every person that fears the other. If you have a gay friend, it's just that much harder to hate gays. etc.
If you think that's silly, OK, don't do it. But it's based on a lot of thought on my part, as well as personal experience. You will find that your views will change depending on who your neighbors are.
Having a small group of self-selected liberals on either side...
Actually, I think co-bowling would be pretty awkward for liberals. It is really more for people who really don't agree with each other, who can't even talk politics to each other, but are willing to set all that aside for a night and just go out and do something fun together.
@RG,
You want Israel to ease up on the Palestinian economy. That would mean more terrorism... [and a lot of blood on your Candyman hands]
If so, why did Israel just today announce it's easing checkpoint restrictions so that more Palestinians can get to work? It didn't just do that to make Condy happy.
One thing about Israel: it adjusts. The government learns from its mistakes, and isn't afraid to change course. House-bulldozing is a good example -- it's been discontinued. So has the Gaza occupation.
In today's case, I suspect that the higher-ups have realized that the economic pressure tactic they've been pushing for the last 8 years hasn't been working very well.
And I agree with that. Looking around at the world today, I see that many different systems of government can keep their people safe. The key to stabilizing any country is not democracy, nor any other system of government, but rather a strong economy.
“The Candy Man said...
@OP:
I think [interfaith bowling is] a deeply silly idea.
I guess this means you're out?
“I want to clarify the idea behind the bowling. My thesis is that our political positions are not purely intellectual. They are intertwined with an emotional defense response that goes back a lot further than politics. We defend the people we love and admire.”
Agreed but it is based on more emotions than just not knowing each other. For one thing your theory fails to take into account Arabs knowing Jews and yet still firing at them or that topics are avoided or not dealt with in many exchanges and politics comes and interferes.
“Socializing with people from different backgrounds, especially in a fun situation, addresses this emotional side. This human side of every person that fears the other. If you have a gay friend, it's just that much harder to hate gays. etc.”
The world is more complicated then having fun could handle.
“The Candy Man said...
@RG,
You want Israel to ease up on the Palestinian economy. That would mean more terrorism... [and a lot of blood on your Candyman hands]
If so, why did Israel just today announce it's easing checkpoint restrictions so that more Palestinians can get to work? It didn't just do that to make Condy happy.”
Israel left other places and had violence as a result. Israel can be dumb too you know.
“One thing about Israel: it adjusts. The government learns from its mistakes, and isn't afraid to change course. House-bulldozing is a good example -- it's been discontinued. So has the Gaza occupation.”
The mistakes were the opposite of what you claim.
“In today's case, I suspect that the higher-ups have realized that the economic pressure tactic they've been pushing for the last 8 years hasn't been working very well.”
If Israel would be allowed to continue with the necessary policies to destroy the Palestinian terrorists and their governments their policies would work. Your policies are based on false premises and just superficial morality.
“And I agree with that. Looking around at the world today, I see that many different systems of government can keep their people safe. The key to stabilizing any country is not democracy, nor any other system of government, but rather a strong economy.”
That’s bull. A strong economy helps but people do not simply want a good economy and that means that wars and strife will happen because of other factors as well. I see you do not believe in democracy comrade?
In any event for someone who claims who wants us to understand other cultures you sure are doing the opposite. You tell them what they feel instead of seeing what they feel.
In any event are you prepared for a Hamas state in the West Bank when the slime bucket Holocaust denier freak Abbas is out of power or dead?
I appreciate the conversation but it seems like I am now arguing with one or two people... my time would be better spent actually trying to help bring peace between our two people than try to respond to a vocal minority who do not think it's possible.
"The Candy Man said...
I appreciate the conversation but it seems like I am now arguing with one or two people... my time would be better spent actually trying to help bring peace between our two people than try to respond to a vocal minority who do not think it's possible."
Bowling for peace. LOL
Don't think we are a minority. We are at least about as numerous or so, maybe more. But numbers don't count as far as what is right. Further you are as blind as the critics of Churchill. It is people like you who will cause more bloodshed in Israel.
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